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· September 3 ·
CHUKCHI
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ISAAC SUYUK WAS HUNCHED over the table when Active took his seat. The boy looked like he was trying to take up as little space as possible.
Active guessed, as in their previous talk, that Isaac would be more inclined to open up if his shriveled self-esteem could be bolstered a little.
“Hey, buddy, you want a soda before we get started?” Active asked.
Isaac blinked hard, nodded, and worked his mouth into a response. “Sp-sp-sp-Sprite, p-p-p-please,” he sputtered.
Active turned to Kavik, unseen behind the one-way mirror, and jerked his head toward the door.
When Kavik came with the drink a couple of minutes later, Isaac grabbed it as if somebody might yank it back unless he took immediate possession.
“Are you about ready to leave for UAF?” Active asked as the door closed behind Kavik.
“Yes, s-s-sir,” Isaac said. “I leave tomorrow.”
“Where you gonna be staying out there?”
“My sister and her kids. They got a tr-trailer.”
“It’s nice you’ve got family to stay with, all right.”
Isaac half-smiled and raised his eyebrows, then slurped from the drink.
“I bet you’ll miss your friends, though, right?”
“Yes. Are you t-t-talking to them, t-t-too?”
Active took out his pad and pen. “Actually, you’re the one we’re counting on to help us with our investigation.” Active guessed that, other than their last talk, Isaac had never had a chance to act as spokesman for his crew.
“The m-m-murder investigation.”
“Yes. We can count on you, right?”
Isaac blinked hard again. “I th-th-think so. But what if I can’t answer your questions?”
“Just be honest and do the best you can, okay? If you don’t know the answer, you tell me. It’s okay.”
Isaac nodded and his shoulders relaxed a fraction of an inch.
“You and your friends were hanging out at a campfire on the beach soon after high school graduation in May, correct?”
“Yes. May fifteenth. I looked it up after you ta-talked to me before,” Isaac said.
His stutter was easing up, Active noticed. He took it as another sign Isaac was relaxing a little. And that he would almost certainly not try to lie.
“How long did you and the boys hang out at the beach?”
“Three hours, maybe. Until all the beer was gone and the fire was going down.”
“You saw the white guy with the beard that day. Did you see him earlier that same day up in Tent City?”
“We never went up there that time. That place is deserted when no one’s around for fish camp yet, so we just stay on the beach.”
“You’re sure none of you went up there that day? You or the boys didn’t go up there on May fifteenth, maybe check out some of the old camps, have a smoke?”
“Nah. We go stay there with Big’s auntie in the summer sometimes. She’ll put up her wall tent and cook lotta fish, mm, aarigaa! But not in May, no fish yet. She’s never in Tent City till the fish come in.”
“When you saw the white guy walking toward you at the campfire, what direction was he coming from?”
“From down the beach. We’re close to the north end and he’s walking toward us from the south.”
“Could he have been up in Tent City?”
“He could have, all right. I didn’t see him come down the bank to the beach, but he could have.”
“Now, I want you to think hard about this, Isaac. Did the white guy say where he had been or if he was with anyone?”
“No. He just say he’s gotta go to the airport.”
“He didn’t mention anyone else?”
“He got that pack from somebody, so it must’ve been that g-g-girl, ah?”
“He mentioned a girl?”
“I don’t kn-kn-know.”
Isaac was tensing up again, but Active sensed it wasn’t because he was lying, just that he felt under pressure.
“No problem, that’s exactly what you should say if you don’t know. Just think about it a little, picture that day when he came up to the campfire. What did he say?”
Isaac looked down at the table, and closed his eyes. “When Kenny grabbed the pack, that naluaqmiu said, ‘That’s hers’ like he got it from a girl.”
“Okay, Isaac, I want to be clear here. When I talked with you before, you said Kenny grabbed the pack and the man didn’t say anything. Are you sure he spoke?”
Isaac ran a hand through his hair, producing a cowlick at the back of his head. “Kenny scared him, all right, so all he said was, ‘That’s hers,’ but Kenny, he took the pack anyway.”
“Did he say the girl’s name?”
Isaac pulled at his jaw. “No. He never said a name.”
“Did he say he was meeting anyone at the airport?”
“Probably that girl, because he had her pack. I bet she was mad she didn’t have it, ah?” Isaac snorted a brief laugh.
“Did he say he was meeting the girl at the airport, or did you just figure out that was what he must be doing?”
Isaac ran his hand through his hair again and frowned in concentration.
Active gave him a few seconds. “I need you to be absolutely positive when you describe what you heard, Isaac. Did the white man say he was meeting the girl at the airport?”
“No, I as-s-sumed. He never said anything like that.”
Active paused to scrawl some notes. “Was this bearded man carrying anything else besides the girl’s pack and his own backpack?”
“No, I’m p-p-positive.”
“He wasn’t carrying a suitcase?”
“A suitcase? No. I would’ve noticed a suitcase, ah?”
“Yeah, I guess you would. You’re very observant.”
“My dad always say, ‘Isaac, maybe you don’t talk so good, but you sure notice everything.’”
“You talk just fine, Isaac.”
That brought a smile, one of the few Active had seen from Isaac.
“I just have one more question. Did you see a young woman around that area earlier in the day, a Native girl, pretty? Maybe the Nome girl on the driver’s license from the pack?”
“No, nobody else, just me and the guys, and that naluaqmiu.”
“Okay, Isaac, that just about wraps it up, but there’s just one more thing.”
Active waved in the direction of the one-way mirror. Kavik came in with two photos, set them face down in front of Active, and stepped back to lean against the wall.
Isaac stretched his neck to see. “Wha-what are those?” he asked.
Active turned over the picture of Josh McCarran and pushed it toward Isaac. “Have you ever seen this man?”
Isaac’s eyes widened. “That’s him.” He tapped the photo with an index finger. “That’s the naluaqmiu with the bloody hands.”
“You’re sure? Absolutely sure?”
Isaac bent over the photo. “He wasn’t smiling like that, but it’s him, all right.”
“Okay.” Active turned the second photo over and slid it next to McCarran’s. “Do you recognize her?”
Isaac’s face was blank for a few seconds. He picked up the photo and studied it, then put it down and smiled. “Yes, I saw her before.”
“Again, are you sure?”
“Yes, I saw her before, all right.”
“Where did you see her?”
“At E-Z Market.”
“E-Z Market?”
“Yeah, in the newspaper. She’s that girl got killed. That one they found dead in Tent City, worked on the Slope.”
“Do you remember her from anywhere else?”
“No. I just heard about her on Kay-Chuck. Then I saw her picture in the paper. That’s too bad what happened.” He tapped the photo of McCarran again. “Is this the guy killed her?”
“We’re not sure yet, but you’ve really helped us try to figure it out.” Active closed his notebook. “If you remember anything else, let me know.” He slid his card across the table.
Isaac looked disappointed that the interview was over. He was relaxed, legs splayed, arms stretched across the table. He drained the soda, pushed back from the table, and stood up. When he walked out of the room he stood a little straighter, Active thought.
Kavik came in and dropped into the chair vacated by Isaac. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
“That’s how it felt to me. You?”
“The same.”
“But we’re no closer to connecting the dots,” Active said. “Seems like we’re just picking up more loose ends.”
“Like Kim Tulimaq’s sudden memory of checking on her aana on her way back from the airport.”
“But if she was asleep, how can she verify anything?”
“You know, some of those old aanas sleep with one eye open.”
“Good point, I’ll pay her a visit- -”
He checked his watch. It was coming up on 6 p.m., a little late in the day to start a serious conversation with an elder.
“- - first thing in the morning,” he finished.
Kavik nodded.
“And what did you find out from Public Works?”
“The trash is piled up on the beach. It’s supposed to go to the landfill tomorrow afternoon."
“All right, let’s hit it right after I talk to Millie. Let’s put somebody on it tonight, so nobody messes with it, oaky?”
“You got it.”